Locating and ejecting mechanism



Jlii' 24, 1956 S. M. ROBERTS LOCATING AND EJECTING MECHANISM Filed July 9, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY.

July 24, 1956 s. M. ROBERTS LOCATING AND EJECTING MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 9, 1951 INVENTOR.

SEWA D M ROBE TS ATTORNE).

July 24, 1956 s. M. ROBERTS LOCATING AND EJECTING MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 9, 1951 INVENTOR. SEW/1 D M ROBE TS ATTORNEY.

LOCATlNG AND EJECTING MECHANISM Seward M. Roberts, Wilmette, 111., assignor to American Flange & Manufacturing Co., inc, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application July 9, 1951, Serial No. 235,887

3 Claims. (Cl. 113-50) This invention relates to a locating and ejector mechanism and, in particular, to such mechanism for locating drum heads in and removing the same from metal working presses.

An object of the invention is to provide mechanisms for removing drum heads from metal working presses after the heads have been worked on by the press.

Another object is to provide such mechanisms which also assist in the locating of the head within the press.

Still another object is to provide such mechanisms whose operations are effected in part by the operator and in part by the operations of the press.

A further object of the invention is to provide such mechanisms which are simple and foolproof in operation.

A more detailed object is to provide such mechanisms which will automatically free themselves and protect themselves from injury should the head, to be ejected, become jammed in the press.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangements of parts as will be described more fully hereinafter. For a full understanding of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention, reference is made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which drawings like reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of so much of a press mechanism as is necessary for an understanding of the invention, showing the mechanism of the invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a similarview, omitting more of the press mechanism while illustrating different positions of the ejector mechanism of the invention by means of solid and dotted lines.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, illustrating other stages in the operation of the ejector mechanism of the invention by means of solid and dotted lines.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front elevation of the upper portion of the ejector lever of the invention, showing the pivotal mounting thereof and the securing of the ejector cam thereto.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary rear elevation of the mounting and adjusting means for the safety latch spring.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view illustrating the actuation of the ejector latch during the insertion of a drum head into operative position in the press.

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6, illustrating the selffreeing action of the ejector mechanism on the jamming of a drum head in the upper die of the press.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 1 indicates the frame of a press, 2 the bolster plate thereof and 3 the ram. The bolster plate and ram are shown as equipped, at 4 and 5, with coopearting die elements. These, as shown in Fig. 3, come together to perform the desired operation on a portion of the drum head 6 when the ram of the press comes down. The die mechanisms, as here contemplated, are such as would be used in a drum plant SEQIQS Pat for perforating and embossing a drum head for the reception of a closure flange, or for the subsequent operation of securing a closure flange in place in an already per forated and embossed drum head. Alternately the mated die elements may be such as shown in United States Patent No. 2,325,929 to Amesbury et al., for performing the perforating and embossing of container walls and the insertion of closure flanges therein, all in a single stroke of the press. Furthermore, through only one pair of mated die elements is here shown, another more common practice, and one to which the invention mechanism is applicable, is that wherein two pairs of die elements are employed, at one and the same time, for performing either the first or second operations of the two operation systems separately, or for performing the single operation forming and inserting of two closure flanges in drum heads at substantially opposite ends of the diameter thereof. More specifically one of the most common types of steel drums has two openings in the head, one usually of 2" size and the other of 4" size. The mechanism of this invention can be employed with die mechanisms for applying such size combination of closure parts, other size combinations or single one size applications in either two stage or single stage press operation.

In the particular structure here illustrated, a nest element 7, which is 'T-shaped in plan, is provided as part of the means for properly locating the drum head in respect to the dies. The T-shaped member 7 is mounted on suitable compression springs 7, so that the drum head 6 can travel down slightly when first engaged by the upper die member 5.

The normal drum head, as shown at 6, will have its center portion 8 recessed with respect to a peripheral flange 9, thus forming a vertical inside border 10. The recess 3 and the flange 9 will normally be circular in outline and the operator normally locates such a head in a press, with respect to dies such as 4, by pushing the edge of the flange against a pair of spaced locating pins. Here two points are provided by a pair of stop gauges or pins 11, adjacent either end of the cross-member 12 of the T-shaped nest 7 and a third point is determined by the face 13 of the ejector latch 14 at a position adjacent the opposite end of the nest 7. The ejector latch 14 is ivoted at 15 to the adjustable bracket 16. In inserting a drum head and in properly locating the same, in accordance with the invention, the operator first pushes the periphery of the head against the inclined face 17 of the latch 14, until the nose 18 clears the flange 9 and the portion 14 of the latch, due to the weight of the piece 19, swings and drops, by gravity, into the recess of the head. He then pulls the head 6 back to engage the wall 10 with the face 13 and the opposite periphery of the flange 9 with the pins 11.

The bracket 16, carrying the ejector latch 14, is longitudinally adjustably mounted on a shank 20 of the safety latch 21. The latch 21 is in turn pivotally mounted at 22 in a bracket 23 carried at the lower end of the ejector lever 24. The lever 24, an elongated bar like member, is pivoted at its upper end by means of a stud like member 25 to a mounting bracket 26, suitably secured by some means such as the U-shaped channel member 27 to the frame 1 of the press.

An ejector cam 28, with an upwardly inclined face 29 and a flat top 30 is adjustably secured to the lever 24 by means of a bracket having a face plate 31. The adjustable mounting of this bracket is etfected by the elongated slot 32 through which clamping bolts 33 pass. These bolts carry washers 34 which overlie the face of the plate 31, on either side of the slot 32. The bracket may be in the form of a yoke which passes around the lever 24 having a plate 35 on the other side of the lever 24 from the plate 31.

As here shown, the yoke-type bracket is formed by employing separate plates 31 and 35 and using the cam 28 as the joining web between them. The cam, as best shown in Fig. 4, is of the same thickness as the lever 24 and has its back edges 24 welded, as shown at 36 and 37, to the adjacent edges of the plates 31 and 35. Other bracket constructions, such as a one piece yoke or a wider cam element securing two seperate plates, can, of course, be employed if desired.

In the construction here shown, the clamping bolts 33 pass through the lever 24 and through an elongated slot in the plate 35 comparable to the slot 32. Washers 38, carried by the bolts 33, overlie the material either side of the slot in the plate 35 and suitable pairs of nuts 39 and 40, or other lock-nut devices, are employed to clamp the plates 31 and 35 in desired position on the lever 24. The elongated slot 32, of course, provides for resonable adjustment of the bracket, and consequently of the cam 28, along the lever 24.

As previously indicated the lever 24 is pivoted at its upper end by a stud like member to the bracket 26. This bracket carries a stop plate 41, against which the inner face of the lever 24 abuts, to prevent the lever swinging inward beyond the vertical. When the lever 24 is swung outward, or to the left as indicated in Fig. 3, it is obvious that, if left to its own devices, it would swing back to the vertical through the action of gravity. Should a more positive return be desired, that is effected by the spring action illustrated in Fig. 4. Here it is seen that the stud 25 has an enlarged outer end 42, surrounded by a coiled spring 43, one of whose ends 44 is seated and retained in a slot in the outer end of the portion 42. The other end 45 of the spring 43 engages a recess or hole in the lever 24. The lever 24 pivots on the intermediate section 46 of the stud 25 and the stud 25 is held in place and prevented from turning by means of the nut 47 and the lock-washer 43. That lock washer acts between the nut 47 and adjacent portion 49 of the bracket 26. Thus movement of the lever outwardly from the vertical is restricted by the tensioning of the spring 43, which tensioning expedites the return of the lever to the vertical.

Actuation of the lever 24 is effected by means of the tripper arm 50 which is pivoted at 51 to a tripper block 52 adjustably mounted against the back face of the ram 3. The tripper block 52 may be a solid member or may be a T-shaped element of pressed metal, having a double center section and outwardly extending wings, such as 53, which have elongated holes therein for reception of the bolts 54, to enable a reasonable amount of vertical adjustment.

The block 52 provides a horizontal stop surface 55 to be engaged by the lower face of the tripper arm 50 and preventing it from dropping below the horizontal.

Also the block 52 provides a bridge 56 across the top of the slot receiving the arm 50 so as to limit the upward movement of that arm. Finally it is seen that the arm 50 carries a follower roller 57 at its outer end.

From the showing in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it will be apparent that, as the ram 3 moves downwardly from its uppermost position as shown in Fig. l, the arm 50 will be tilted upwardly as shown in solid lines in Fig. 2. Thus the roller 57 will start to ride outwardly on the surface of the cam 28 and will shortly clear the outer edge of the surface 30. Then, as shown in the upper dotted line representation in Fig. 2, the roller 57 will run down the incline 29 of the cam 28, while the arm 50 falls towards the horizontal and finally reaches that stage as indicated in the lower dotted line showings of Figs. 2 and 3. All this time the ejector latch 14 has its face 13 in engagement with the vertical surface 10 of the drum head 6.

- When the ram commences to return from the bottom of its stroke it, of course, carries the block 52 and, consequently, the arm 50, upwards with it, with the arm extending out horizontally. After the desired upward movement of the ram has been completed, the roller 57 engages the inclined surface 29 adjacent its bottom and rides up that incline. Continued upward movement of the ram, with the arm 50 extending out horizontally, causesthe lever 24 to be swung outwardly about its pivot 25. This in turn pulls the ejector latch 14 to the left and commences the removal of the drum head 6 from the T-shaped nest 7. This action takes place with sufficient speed and the latch 14 stays in contact with the drum head for a sufiicient length of time to propel it clear of the nest 7. This is illustrated in Fig. 3 by the solid line showing of a drum head in cross-section, where the drum head has past well beyond the latch 14 but is still suspended in the air above the roller conveyor 58.

The full extent of ejecting movement of the lever 24 is reached when the roller 57 clears the upper end of the inclined surface 29 and can ride inwardly on top of the surface 30. Then the lever swings back in to the vertical again, ready for the introduction of the next drum head and the locating of the same by means of the surface 13 of the latch 14 and the pins 11.

This mechanism also makes provision for automatic disengagement of the ejector mechanism and the moving it out of harms way in the event that the drum head sticks to one or more of the upper die members 5 and travels upwardly with the ram 3. The Fig. 7 showing illustrates how this is accomplished. First, however, reference is made to Fig. 3, from which it is seen that the ram, and hence the arm 50 and roller 57 travel up for a considerable distance before the roller 57 engages the incline 29 of the cam 28. This upward movement of the ram, carrying the stuck drum head with it, tends to carry the latch 14 up with it. This would quickly break the latch or otherwise damage the mechanism if the shank 20 were held rigid in horizontal position. Such is not the case, however, for the shank 20 is pivoted at 22, enabling it to swing upward when an upward force is exerted on the latch 14. As this swinging action continues the surface 13, instead of being vertical, will adopt an incline which gradually increases towards the horizontal so that by the time the roller 57 engages the surface 29, the latch 14 will slide easily out of the recess in the drum head and be swung out of the way so that the drum head can pass it without damage.

Once the latch 14 is freed in this manner it is quickly restored to operative position by the action of the safety spring 59. This spring, which is engaged with the extending left end of the safety latch member 21, has its upper end engaged in a receiving eye at 60 adjacent the bottom of an adjusting stirrup member 61, whose screw threaded top 62 receives the mounting and adjusting bolt 63. The bolt 63 is received for free rotation in an opening in a bracket 64 extending brackwardly with respect to the lever 24. The bolt 63 is locked in set position by means of a nut 65 which may be turned up against the underside of the bracket 64 for that purpose. It will be apparent, however, that when the nut 65 is backed up and freed from the bracket 64, the tension on the spring 69 can be adjusted by turning the head 66 of the bolt 63, thus raising or lowering the portion 62 on the bolt 63 as desired. In this manner the tension to be imposed on the pivotal movement of the shank 20 can be varied in order to insure proper operation of the safety latch.

Having described my invention, what I claim is new and desire to obtain Letters Patent for is:

1, In a press, a work surface, a pair of fixed spaced locating pins extending upwardly from said work surface, a pivoted locating latch, a mounting member carried by the frame of said press and mounting said latch above said work surface in opposed spaced relation with respect to said locating pins, said latch being formed with a normally downwardly extending portion having a surface thereon cooperating with said pins when in a vertical position, to establish a three point location, and with a counterbalancing portion extending at an angle away from said downwardly extending portion, means for pivotallyy mounting said latch on said mounting member at a position adjacent the apex of said angle, said counterbalancing portion and said mounting member being provided with cooperating stop surfaces to position said cating surface in said substantially vertical position after said portion, carrying said surface, has been swung out of the Way by the work piece.

2. In mechanism for locating a drum head, formed with a circular outline and with a recessed intermediate portion bordered by an abrupt interior shoulder concentric with said outline, in operative position in a press, a pair of fixed locating pins for engaging said outline and a locating and ejecting latch spaced from said pins and in opposed relation with respect thereto, said latch being formed with a surface for locating and ejecting engagement with said shoulder, mounting means carried by the frame of said press for mounting said latch for movement and for engagement with a drum head carried by said press and means forming part of said mounting means, cooperating with a member on the ram of the press, for moving said latch away from said locating position on the upstroke of said press to cause the ejection of a drum head from said press by the engagement of said surface on said latch with said shoulder.

3. In press mechanism, a pair of fixed locating pins spaced apart for engagement with the border of a work piece of circular outline, said work piece being downwardly recessed inwardly of said outline with said recess having an interior shouldered border concentric with said outline, a locating and ejecting member operating in conjunction with said fixed pins and positioned in opposed relation with respect to said pins for establishing the threepoint location for said circular outline work-piece, said locating and ejecting member being formed with a workpiece engaging surface thereon for engagement with said border of said recess, a mounting member swingably mounted on said press for mounting said locating and ejecting member for movement and for engagement with a Work-piece carried by said press, means acting between said locating and ejecting member and said mounting member to establish a fixed position of said locating and ejecting member with said work-piece engaging surface in engagement with said border to enable said member to act in conjunction with said pins for establishing the location of said work-piece and means operable on the upstroke of said press and cooperating with a member on the ram of said press to move said mounting member and said locating and ejecting member carried thereby in toto, to eject said work-piece from said located position through the engagement of said engaging surface with said shouldered border.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 227,827 Perkins May 18, 1880 227,829 Perkins et a1 May 18, 1880 451,534 Turner May 5, 1891 784,415 McDonald Mar. 7, 1905 1,000,002 Horsley Aug. 8, 1911 1,415,838 Grifiiths et al. May 9, 1922 1,747,463 Booth Feb. 18, 1930 2,275,561 Shalin Mar. 10, 1942 2,421,365 Patrick May 27, 1947 2,433,533 Shera Dec, 30, 1947 

